Man arrested after 24 years in connection with teenager's murder

Francisco Rangel is charged with murder after police arrested him in connection with the 1996 killing of 18-year-old Joseph Johnson.

Francisco Rangel is charged with murder after police arrested him in connection with the 1996 killing of 18-year-old Joseph Johnson.

Photo: Bexar County Sheriff's Office

Photo: Bexar County Sheriff's Office

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Francisco Rangel is charged with murder after police arrested him in connection with the 1996 killing of 18-year-old Joseph Johnson.

Francisco Rangel is charged with murder after police arrested him in connection with the 1996 killing of 18-year-old Joseph Johnson.

Photo: Bexar County Sheriff's Office

Man arrested after 24 years in connection with teenager's murder

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

A San Antonio man was arrested Wednesday in connection with a teenager's murder that went unsolved for almost 24 years.

On April 16, 1996, Joseph Johnson, 18, was found stabbed to death in an abandoned brick structure near the 700 block of W. Mistletoe on the North Side. Johnson was stabbed multiple times and left for dead, an arrest affidavit said. A list of possible suspects and witnesses were identified, but were never interviewed by police at the time, the affidavit said.

In October, San Antonio detectives decided to look into the case again and were able to bring in one of the witnesses on the list for questioning.

The witness said he was at the scene before the incident, and that Johnson was alive when he left. He said two other people were also at the scene — a second witness and 41-year-old Francisco Rangel.

Detectives flew to Florida in January to interview the second witness, who said he saw Rangel stab Johnson in the stomach. At the time, the witness was only 15 years old and said he got scared and ran. He identified Rangel by his nickname "bone crusher."

Rangel was arrested Wednesday. Detectives discovered that at the time of the incident, Rangel lived only a block away from the crime scene.